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Our [[righteous]] father '''Alexander Hotovitzky''' (or Hotovitsky), [[hieromartyr]] of the Bolshevik yoke, [[Missionary]] of America, was a Russian who came to the United States in the 1890s as a lay missionary and was [[ordain]]ed to the [[priest]]hood while there. He was active as a missionary among the emigrated [[Uniate]]s in the northeastern United States before returning to Russia in 1914. In Russia he was active among the [[Orthodox Karelians]] before his assignment to [[Christ the Savior Cathedral (Moscow)|Christ the Savior Cathedral]] in Moscow in 1917. After the Bolshevik coup he was subjected to the cruelties by the ungodly revolutionists as he defended the Orthodox faith, his people, and [[church ]] property. Subjected to many arrests and exile Father Alexander serviced his beloved Church as best he could through these tumultuous times until after a final arrest he disappeared from history other than oral reports of his [[martyr]]dom. His [[glorification]] is celebrated on [[December 4]].

Alexander Hotovitzky was born on [[February 11]], 1872, in the city of Kremenetz in Volhynia. His father, Alexander, was a priest who was the rector of the Volhynia Theological [[Seminary]]. Fr. Alexander was educated at the Volhynia Seminary before entering the [[St. Petersburg Theological Academy]]. Upon graduation from the academy in 1895 with a master's degree he was sent to the Diocese of the Aleutians and North America as a lay missionary and as [[reader]] at the St. Nicholas Church in New York City. He was ordained [[ordain]]ed a [[deacon]] after his marriage to Maria Scherbuhina, who was a graduate of the [[Pavlosk Institute of St. Petersburg]]. [[Bishop]] [[Nicholas (Ziorov) of the Aleutians|Nicholas (Ziorov)]] ordained Fr. Alexander to the priesthood on [[February 25]], 1896, at the diocesan [[cathedral]] in San Francisco.

A week later he returned to New York to become the pastor of [[St. Nicholas Church (New York, NY)]], where he had been a [[reader]]. During the ensuing years, Fr. Alexander was successful in his missionary activities among the emigrees from Galicia and Carpatho-Russia as well as representing the Orthodox Church before American religious institutions and meetings. He was instrumental in the establishment of many new Orthodox [[parish]]es, including those in Yonkers, Passaic, and Philadelphia. He edited the journal of Orthodox activity, the ''[[American Orthodox Messenger]]''. He actively participated in establishing an [[Orthodox mutual aid society]], including serving in various management positions. Through his initiative and active participation a new architecturally majestic St. Nicholas Cathedral was built to replace the small [[parish ]] church in New York City, traveling throughout the United States, and even to Russia, soliciting funds for its construction. In 1903, the new edifice became the diocesan cathedral.

After his arrival in Russia Fr. Alexander was assigned as a [[priest ]] in Helsinki, then a part of the Russian Empire. Here, as assistant to his archpastor, [[Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow|Sergius (Stragorodsky)]], he defended the Orthodox minority against the proselytizing activities of the expansionist Finnish Lutherans. Then in August 1917 he was transferred to Christ the Savior Church in Moscow as an assistant priest to once again serve under his old archpastor from America, the future St. Tikhon.

Then in the fall of 1937, Fr. Alexander was again arrested. No records have been found of his further life, but oral reports have been received of his martyred [[martyr]]ed death. The place of his burial is unknown.